John's Reputation In The Crucible

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Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a dramatic play about the witch trails that take place in the seventeenth century in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. The main character John Proctor experiences a test of character when he must decide whether he should confess that he is a wizard and live a lie for the rest of his life or hang for being a wizard and die a good Christian. John of course chooses to die a good Christian and his choice shows that he is strong and shows that he is a true believer. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible John’s choice was the right choice because he wanted to protect his family’s reputation in Salem, he wanted to protect his name, and he didn’t want to dishonor the condemned. John’s decision was a wise decision because he protected his family’s name and reputation by choosing to hang. The Puritans highly valued their reputation in society and they went to extremes to protect their good name. John being a Puritan, not only did he value his own reputation but he also highly valued his family’s name in Salem. Since John’s decision protected his own name, John made a wise decision. John honored his reputation when he decided not to sign the confession because he didn’t want to be remembered for being a wizard. John’s explanation for not wanting to sign the confession was, “Because I lie and sign myself to lies… How may I…show more content…
John had to make a decision between life and death and he chose to die. He chose to die because he didn’t want to live a lie while other innocent people were killed. The fact that John decided to die made him a strong and righteous person. Although John made the wise decision and died to protect his family from accusations at the same time he didn’t make the wise decision because once he is hung the state owns his property and his family doesn’t have
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